


The Christmas Song

by kjack89



Series: Twelve Days of Christmas Giveaway Fics [2]
Category: Les Misérables - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Established Relationship, Fluff, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Implied/Referenced Depression, M/M, St. Nicholas Day
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-27
Updated: 2013-12-27
Packaged: 2018-01-06 09:06:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,839
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1104995
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kjack89/pseuds/kjack89
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Enjolras helps Grantaire celebrate St. Nicholas Day.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Christmas Song

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Tumblr user titlewavena](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=Tumblr+user+titlewavena).



> Though the prompt was for The Christmas song, I drew on this part of it for this:
> 
> "Tiny tots with their eyes all aglow  
> Will find it hard to sleep tonight  
> They know that Santa's on his way  
> He's loaded lots of toys and goodies on his sleigh"
> 
> The traditions mentioned in this fic follow what my family does, which in turn is based (fairly loosely, admittedly) on what occurs in and around Bavaria, as that is where my family is from. 
> 
> Usual disclaimer: if you recognize it, it's not mine, since while Santa was good to me, he did not get me the rights to Les Mis for Christmas.

Jehan knocked sharply on Enjolras’s apartment door, shivering at the sudden cold snap that had swept through the area, and knocked again after less than a minute, hoping Enjolras would open the door to let him in. When Enjolras did open the door, it was with a scowl. “This better be important. I’m studying.”

“It’s about Grantaire.”

Those were the magic words — the scowl fell away from Enjolras’s face, replaced by something earnest, and Jehan hid a smile, as glad as he had ever been that Enjolras and Grantaire had finally gotten their act together and started dating. Enjolras stood back in the doorway. “Come on in.”

Jehan followed him into the living room, not bothering to take off his coat, since he wouldn’t be there long. “Things are still going well with you and Grantaire?” Jehan asked casually, still trying not to grin as widely as he wanted to as he sat down on the couch.

Enjolras bit his lip and hesitated for a moment, clearly thinking over the past few weeks, but then he nodded, a smile spreading across his face. “Yeah. I think so. I haven’t seen him as much recently, with finals coming up, but he’s been working on his semester portfolio, so he’s been busy, too.”

“Good,” Jehan told him, beaming. “Well, I need a favor regarding Grantaire, and I couldn’t think of anyone who would be more suited for it than you.”

Settling in on the armchair across from Jehan, Enjolras cocked his head slightly and asked slowly, “What would you like me to do for you?”

Jehan shook his head. “It’s not what you can do for me, it’s what you can do for Grantaire.” At Enjolras’s inquisitive glance, Jehan elaborated, “I don’t know how much you know about Grantaire’s family history, but it’s not very good. By the time I met Grantaire in high school, he had already had a pretty rough life, and Christmas was one of the worst times of year for him. His parents — well, suffice to say, where other kids got presents and candy and things like that for Christmas, more often than not Grantaire got no more than a black eye or verbal abuse.”

Enjolras sucked in a sharp breath, though he also nodded, not surprised by what Jehan was telling him. “Anyway,” Jehan continued, “Grantaire is German on his mother’s side, and I wanted to do something for him at Christmas, something his parents couldn’t take away from him, so I decided to start celebrating St. Nicholas Day with him.”

“St. Nicholas Day?” Enjolras repeated, frowning.

Nodding, Jehan told him, “December 6th — well, December 5th night, technically — St. Nicholas comes to bring candy and small presents to little boys and girls, at least in some parts of Germany and the US. The tradition is to put it in their shoe, so I would have Grantaire leave his shoe outside, hidden where his parents couldn’t see, and I would come over in the middle of the night and give him candy and presents.”

He smiled slowly, eyes taking on a faraway look as he remembered fondly the St. Nicholas Days past. “Obviously Grantaire knew it was me, but still…I think every year was a surprise for him.” His smile faded slightly. “I think the biggest surprise was that someone would care enough to do that to him.”

Enjolras nodded, his smile also fading, recognizing all too well what Jehan was referring to, the ever present problem of Grantaire’s self-esteem and self-worth. “I know what you mean,” he said quietly. “But what do you want me to do?”

Jehan seemed to come back to reality. “I’ve done it for him every year, but I’m going to be out of town this year — I have a conference in the city, and I won’t be able to do it for him this year. So I was hoping that you might be able to do it for him.”

Biting his lip almost nervously, Enjolras said slowly, “I mean, I guess…but isn’t this kind of important? I mean, what if I mess it up? Things between him and I…they’re still so new, and I wouldn’t…I wouldn’t want to do anything to jeopardize that.”

Though Jehan laughed lightly, he gave Enjolras a sympathetic glance. “It  _really_  isn’t difficult and pretty hard to mess up. You put the candy in the shoe, and that’s all there is to it. Even you can handle that, I’m pretty sure.”

After only a moment’s hesitation more, Enjolras nodded. “Ok. Then I’ll do it.” He smiled tentatively at Jehan. “Thanks for thinking of me.”

“There wouldn’t be anyone else that I would trust with this,” Jehan told him simply. “It means the world to Grantaire, and so do you.”

Enjolras blushed scarlet and ducked his head. “I’ll…try to live up to that. Have fun at your conference.” Once Jehan had left, Enjolras leaned back against the chair, frowning. He had candy to buy and plans to make.

* * *

 

The night of the fifth was a quiet night spent in Grantaire’s apartment, with Grantaire curled up next to Enjolras, quietly brooding while Enjolras read his book. Enjolras looked over at Grantaire and pressed a kiss to the top of his forehead. “Is everything alright?” he asked, trying not to sound too concerned.

Grantaire shrugged. “Yeah, it’s fine,” he said, uncharacteristically quiet, and his grip on Enjolras, normally ranging from ecstatic disbelief to almost reverence, seemed almost sadly desperate.

Enjolras frowned down at him. “Are you sure? Because you don’t seem fine.”

“No, I am,” Grantaire said, sitting up. “Really. It’s…it’s nothing. I promise. I’ll be fine tomorrow.” He hesitated for a moment. “Well, maybe not tomorrow. But by Saturday, I’ll definitely be fine.”

Though Enjolras didn’t stop frowning, he also nodded and kissed Grantaire. “Alright, well if you’re sure.”

Grantaire nodded. “Totally.” He stood. “I’m, uh, I’m gonna go to bed, actually. You can let yourself out?”

“Sure,” Enjolras said, though now he was definitely concerned. In all his years of knowing Grantaire, he couldn’t recall a single time that Grantaire had gone to bed before midnight. He watched as Grantaire slowly made his way to his bedroom, his shoulders slumped and something close to dejection in his step.

Enjolras sincerely hoped that the visit from St. Nicholas in a few hours would be enough to get Grantaire out of his funk. Then he realized that Grantaire hadn’t put a shoe out for St. Nicholas, and had a momentary panic attack for what the hell he was supposed to do now.

Then he squared his shoulders, closing his book with a snap. He  _would_ figure this out. He had watched enough spy movies to probably be able to creep into Grantaire’s bedroom. He just had to wait for Grantaire to fall asleep.

* * *

 

“Dude, what the  _fuck_?”

Enjolras sat bolt upright, his book falling off of his chest. “Whazzat?” he asked stupidly, staring around, his hair delightfully disheveled.

Grantaire stood in his bedroom door, hands on his hips, frowning at Enjolras. “Did you  _sleep_  here last night?” he demanded.

Looking down at himself and then back at Grantaire, Enjolras blinked slowly. “Um. Apparently?” His voice was rough with sleep, and he rubbed his eyes vigorously. “Um. Oh. Yeah. Sorry. I was reading and you went to bed early and I just sort of…you know.”

“I do know.” Grantaire’s voice slipped into a pout. “But why would you sleep on the couch when there is a perfectly good spot in my bed that you could have slept in?”

Enjolras smiled slowly at him. “You mean you’re not mad?”

Grantaire laughed and crossed to him, bending over to kiss him soundly. “Why the hell would I be mad? My boyfriend was comfortable enough to spend the night. Really the only thing I’m mad about is that I didn’t get sex out of the whole deal.”

“Well maybe we’ll have to do something about that later,” Enjolras told him serenely, still grinning. “But first, I think that we should go get breakfast. Provided you’re amenable.”

Grantaire kissed him again, curling a hand into his hair to pull him closer. “I am incredibly amenable to the idea of breakfast, particularly if there are pancakes involved.” He pulled away. “Let me just put, like, real clothes and shoes on, alright?”

Enjolras kissed him once more and sat back to watch Grantaire go back to his room, still smiling. His smile grew when he heard Grantaire exclaim, “Why the  _fuck_  is there candy in my shoe?!”

After a moment, Grantaire appeared back in the room, shoe in one hand, grin wide and almost childlike in excitement. “Did you put candy in my shoe?”

“Happy St. Nicholas Day,” Enjolras said simply, and Grantaire let out a little noise before rushing over to him and pushing him back against the cushions, kissing him enthusiastically.

“Thank you so much,” Grantaire told him, his eyes shining. “But now I suppose I should get shoes that don’t have candy in them. Because  _I_  am definitely buying you breakfast after this.”

Something on Enjolras’s face seemed to freeze and he started, “Grantaire—”, but Grantaire just kissed him again and disappeared back into his bedroom.

Enjolras bit his lip and waited. “Wait,  _what_?” Grantaire shouted, scuffling sounds coming out of his bedroom. “Enjolras, did you put candy in  _all_  of my shoes?!”

Unable to contain his snort of laughter, Enjolras said a little desperately, “Was I not supposed to?”

Grantaire’s head appeared around his bedroom door. “Um, I think tradition calls for just one shoe,” he told him before dissolving into giggles. “But I, uh, I appreciate your enthusiasm?”

Enjolras grinned at him. “What can I say, you’re worth all the enthusiasm in the world.”

Something in Grantaire’s face softened, and he crossed back to Enjolras. “Is  _that_  why you fell asleep here last night? Because you spent the entire night filling every pair of shoes that I own with candy?”

“Well, not  _just_  candy,” Enjolras said slowly, grinning when Grantaire groaned and leaned in to kiss him. “Seriously. There’s some little bottles of alcohol hidden in a few, but only if you’re a good boy and can find them.”

Grantaire laughed loudly at that, kissing Enjolras again. “You may actually be perfect, did you know that?”

Enjolras just blushed and shrugged. “I mean, Jehan, put me up to it, so…” Grantaire was too busy kissing down Enjolras’s neck to reply, and Enjolras sighed and laughed quietly. “Of course, you’re going to have to clear out a pair of shoes if we’re going to go to breakfast.”

Grantaire pushed Enjolras back down against the couch and kissed his lips, his hand slipping under Enjolras’s t-shirt. “Fuck breakfast,” he whispered. “I can think of something better we can do.” Enjolras made a hopeless noise and acquiesced, allowing Grantaire to push his shirt up. Grantaire pressed a kiss to Enjolras’s stomach, smiling against the taut skin when Enjolras laughed. “You were the best St. Nick of all time.”


End file.
